21-Day Meditation Challenge Artwork
Season 1 - Episode 29

Day 17: Om Shanti

20 min - Practice
23 likes

Description

Shanti means peace. We invite in a new vibrational experience working with the mantra, Om Shanti Om. We continue to work with mala beads for this meditation, although not required. Notice the new sensations that arise.
What You'll Need: No props needed

Transcript

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So here we are for meditation number 17. We are switching up the mantra today. So you've had just plain Om, you've had Soham, you've had Hamsa. And as I've said, each mantra has its own energy quality. And when you're chanting a mantra, you're imprinting that energy quality mind, body, all through the layers.

So today's mantra, today and tomorrow, Om Shanti Om, Om Shanti Om. So Shanti means peace. So you'll have a new experience, I think, chanting this mantra, a new vibrational experience. So let's begin. If you're using your mala, have it handy, choose your seat and close your eyes. Begin the process of adjusting your posture, anything you need to change in your lower body, sitting bones and pelvic alignment.

Move from the base all the way up through the top of your head. Any other areas of your body, you know you tend to maybe misalign or forget about or collapse into. Make those adjustments. That intentional release of tension. And you probably know you have those spaces where you store, you store stress or you store tension.

Is it your shoulders? Is it the navel center? Maybe it's clenching the teeth. We'll check in and release and soften any of those places of holding. And then as always, give yourself the opportunity to see how you're feeling, mind, emotion and energy. And then eventually, another point of focus, your breathing.

Adjusting quality of natural breathing today. And then now that you've had these few moments of kind of moving from the outer towards the inner, setting up your body and preparing your mind, we're going to shift into the mantra. So grabbing your string of mala beads, starting with your fingers on that first bead, Om Shanti Om. Moving along, Om Shanti Om, Om Shanti Om. And we'll just drop into silence now as we begin that movement around the mala.

Om Shanti Om. Om Shanti Om. Over and over again. Remember feeling tone is important. My presence of attention bead to bead, mind with the mantra.

Om Shanti Om. Om Shanti Om. Om Shanti Om. Om Shanti Om. Om Shanti Om.

Om Shanti Om. Om Shanti Om. Om Shanti Om. Om Shanti Om. And if you make it all the way around, or when you make it all the way around, remember just keep going, one bead at a time, hearing that inner sound, presence of mind.

Even with this tool, mantra and mala, and still hit that autopilot mode, you're just kind of going, going, going, and maybe full attention is not quite there. Catch yourself when that happens, slow it down, more pause, more presence with each repetition. Om Shanti Om. Om Shanti Om. And I want you to pay attention as you're going, what is the quality that you're experiencing now with this new mantra, Om Shanti Om?

Can you actually feel a difference in the quality of this mantra? Om Shanti Om. Om Shanti Om. Om Shanti Om. Om Shanti Om.

Om Shanti Om. So keep continuing. Also remember your body, subtle adjustments as needed so you're not sinking, not collapsing, still lifting tall, relaxed. Begin with those points of tension or gripping and continue, Om Shanti Om. So you're really increasingly present how you're sitting and that inner sound, drawing the mind more and more and more to the here and now, out of its usual kind of unchecked thought patterning.

Om Shanti Om. Om Shanti Om. Just about four more minutes. You're tracking along the sound. Om Shanti Om.

Om Shanti Om. Om Shanti Om. Om Shanti Om. Om Shanti Om. Last moment, just staying with the mantra, Om Shanti Om.

Om Shanti Om. And now releasing the practice of the mantra, let's pause and as we always do, have that moment to feel the benefits or the results of this particular meditation and especially in contrast to the other mantras we've used, noticing mind, noticing emotional content and noticing energy and even that deepest place, that spiritual connection and then bring your palms together at your heart, Namaste, thank you for meditating with me and please let me know what your experience was of this new mantra. Let me know if it was palpably different than the other mantras, thank you.

Comments

Curtis Hamilton
I did't know if I should say part of the mantra on the in breath and part on the out breath so I said the entire mantra on the in breath and on the out breath I counted a bead. This was a very different feeling. I can't really describe the difference in words but it was great.
Ben R
3 people like this.
Much regard. I enjoyed this practice and felt more grounded and went a little deeper inside, I am very settled now and the sound vibrations made me feel wonderful. I actually heard myself chanting "Shanti" several times softly. Good practice. Nahaaw. Ben.
Matthew
1 person likes this.
hi - i liked this.
with 3 syllables in the mantra it did bring home a question about coordination (not not) of finger movements, breathing and speech. not to overthink it but any thoughts on this?
also i'd be interested in your take on mantras spoken silently vs aloud?
thanks.
Nikki Estrada
Matthew just let your breathing be natural, you dont need to think about it or coordinate it with your breath. Just calmly go bead to bead. Mantras out loud are beautiful and helpful. However, practiced internally (silently in your mind) they are considered even more potent. You are training your mind along the inner vibration of the mantra itself. This is the most transformative way to practice them...
Matthew
1 person likes this.
thats really helpful - thanks v much
Jennifer D
1 person likes this.
When you speak about “feeling tone” do you mean the tone of the mantra in your mind?
I’m loving these meditations, I keep getting stuck on that phrase and don’t quite understand it. Thank you so much 🙏
Nikki Estrada
Jennifer I havent re-watched the video to see where I said it and in what context but I often say this to ask, "whats your mood, what emotional content do you observe?" But, its also true that each mantra has an energy quality and therefore unique feeling. In either case observe what you are feeling!
Chrys M
1 person likes this.
I don't have an understanding of the 'feeling tone' either and don't feel a vibration with the mantras. I felt like I was 'in the groove' at the start of the challenge with the counting technique but haven't found it with the mantras or mala. Do you think it would be beneficial if, before progressing, I started again from the beginning to see if I can meld into the mantras? (I just reread my comment l...do you think I'm at the frustration stage - har har?!).
Nikki Estrada
Chrys !! dont start over just keep going. I felt the same way with mantras when I first started meditating, so for many years I didnt use them, I counted the breath. The journey is to help you find what works for you. Keep going, see what happens..
Kate M
1 person likes this.
I think that I would have to use this mantra consistently over a much longer period of time to really start to feel  its unique vibrational tone, as compared to the other mantras. Knowing the meaning - om peace - was meaningful at that level. Also - the shhh sound of shanti feels calming, like shalom : )
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